A volunteer programme on the Isle of Thanet have been supporting hundreds of vulnerable people thanks to the partnership between Kent Business School and Santander Universities.
Ageless Thanet is part of the Social Enterprise Kent CIC which received a £500 grant to support its work from Santander Universities via KBS.
During this period, the Ageless Thanet volunteering team have worked closely with partners to support a Thanet and East Kent wide initiative, led by Social Enterprise Kent’s social prescribing service, Connect Well East Kent.
In Thanet alone 1478 calls were made and received from people seeking advice, a total of 996 food and prescription deliveries.
The service has been extremely valuable for those who are most at risk of loneliness and isolation during the Covid-19 crisis.
On behalf of Ageless Thanet, Heather Biddles said: “We would like to thank Kent Business School and Santander Universities for their support of our Ageless Thanet volunteering programme during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Prior to lockdown we established our office number as a helpline, encouraging anyone who was worried to give us a call. Even if we were not able to directly help them, we knew that we would be able to signpost them to other local organisations who could.
“Unsurprisingly we received a lot of phone calls from people who were concerned that as they were shielding, they would not be able to do their food shopping or collect their prescriptions.”
Other organisations to benefit from the Santander Universities funding included the Ambrette restaurant which supplied hot food to the homeless via Canterbury-based charity, Porchlight and Kent Fresh Doorstep Delivery which delivered fresh fruit and veg to the elderly in care homes.